Weaponless Dmg Formula?

Formula changes at 2nd job advance, though... (I took pics on my Brawler before and after advance)

Pre-28:
(3*STR+DEX)*(LEVEL+ATK+3)/100
28-30:
(3*STR+DEX)*(31+ATK)/100
30 as Brawler: (4.2*STR+DEX)*(31+ATK)/100

The Spear formula is (5*STR+DEX)*ATK/100, so you need 5/3 as much atk knuckleless to approximately match up.

ex. Level 26, 131 STR 30 DEX - 50 atk Spear, 40 atk Knuckle, 10 atk Glove, 20 atk 10 str Shield:
Spear - 493 max (using 12 atk elixirs)
Knuckleless - 321 max
Knuckle - 408 max

So even a godly shield won't help enough... Just get a good Fish/Pumpkin spear.

Heading up to level 30 though (post-advance) - 151 str
Knuckleless - 515
Knuckle (41 atk) - 475

So if you for some reason can only afford a 100% scrolled knuckle, but happened to have a 20 atk 10 str Shield (or you want the speed advantage) knuckleless makes sense.

So basically you're saying that in 1st job: Spear > Bare hands > Knuckles